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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26708365">Here in This Bedroom, After the War</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Our Someday [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The 100 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, echo is vulnerable we love to see it, kind of angst but not really theyll be okay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:40:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,254</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26708365</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p>hi! this is my first work in this fandom! if this pisses off the echo haters, good. also I am definitely a recho shipper but idk I thought of this and decided to write it so yeah! i hope you enjoy :)</p><p> </p><p>yes i know it wasn't actually a war but the song kinda fits the whole thing so whatever. if anybody has written stuff after season seven with the song i stg I'm not copying I've literally read two clexa fanfics recently and that's it kjrfhkjafn</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Echo/Niylah (The 100)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Our Someday [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Here in This Bedroom, After the War</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hi! this is my first work in this fandom! if this pisses off the echo haters, good. also I am definitely a recho shipper but idk I thought of this and decided to write it so yeah! i hope you enjoy :)</p><p> </p><p>yes i know it wasn't actually a war but the song kinda fits the whole thing so whatever. if anybody has written stuff after season seven with the song i stg I'm not copying I've literally read two clexa fanfics recently and that's it kjrfhkjafn</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Niylah wasn’t sure what woke her up. The fire wasn't loud, Picasso was asleep, and she wasn't too close to the others. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, rubbing her eyes and looking around. Her mouth was dry, and the tip of her nose was cold. It made her regret sleeping closer to the woods than the fire. Raven and Emori were sat by the fire, pulling each other close. They looked up at her as she made her way to them, trying not to trip over the rocks in the dim light.</p><p>"Why are you up?" Emori questioned. Surely it was only a couple hours before sunrise, and Niylah usually liked to sleep in now that she could.</p><p> </p><p>"I could ask you two the same question." Niylah shot back, playfully.</p><p>"I was cold.”</p><p>"John wouldn't walk along the water with me."  raven chuckled at Emori with a roll of her eyes.</p><p>"I don't blame him either." Niylah shook her head with a smile and sat next to them. she looked around, pulling her knees to her chest.</p><p>"I can’t believe that we're back here. after all these years." she sighed.</p><p> </p><p>"Neither can I." Raven poked the fire with the stick she had in hand, "I thought we would die on Bardo." Emori hummed in agreement. "Transcending was weird as hell."</p><p> </p><p>Niylah smiled, "At least we don't have to worry about saving the species. Repopulating and such. Even if we did, I wouldn't help." the girls laughed quietly among themselves, agreeing and  beaming when Indra threw a pebble there way, telling them to be quiet.</p><p> </p><p>Niylah scanned over the camp, smiling when she spotted Clarke and Lexa's silhouettes, curled up together in a tight embrace. Niylah squinted to get a better look. "Wait," she started, " where’s Echo?"</p><p>"I'm not sure." Emori responded, her voice hushed, "She woke up crying and went into the woods."</p><p> </p><p>"She told me to fuck off when I tried to follow her so it must be kind of serious." Raven shrugged.</p><p> </p><p>"Which direction?" Niylah's eyes followed where raven pointed. She got up and dusted herself off. </p><p>"Want us to come with?" </p><p>"No, I’ll be okay." Niylah looked into the dark of the woods, then back at the two women. "If I don't return by sunrise, look for me, please." She half- joked. making her way into the woods, pushing branches away from her face.</p><p> </p><p>She put her arms out cautiously in front of her, hoping to not run into a tree. She had forgotten how dark the woods could be at night. She never quite understood how her father went for walks In the dead of night without needing a torch or any source of light. Sure, she understood the gentle pull of the moon, and the warmth in the crowded solitude of the night sky, but Niylah wouldn't dare go wandering into the woods alone at night. Obviously, Echo didn’t share her fears.</p><p> </p><p>She was beginning to lose hope of finding Echo. The forest was basked the soft pink of sunrise peaking through the leaves of the trees. Niylah was sure she was lost. She had seen, well, tripped over the same damn rock at least three times. Just when she was about to turn back, she spotted a light out of the corner of her eye. She let out a sigh of relief seeing the bunker door. She pulled it open carefully, wincing when the light flooding the room reached her eyes. A cloud of dust stirred when she stepped inside, looking around, no trace of Echo. She made her way around the halls, around the piles of rubble, before she finally came across a bedroom.<br/>
Niylah walked in, trying to calm her racing pulse. She was about to leave when a figure caught her eye. Echo was curled up on one of the bunks, silent sobs wracked her body. Niylah could hear her wet gasps and it broke her heart. She knew exactly what this felt like, heaving sobs that wrack your body like this hurt. Nobody should have to be alone with whatever was causing her to be this upset. Niylah stepped to her, not making any sound. she sat next to her.</p><p>"Echo?" she started, she wasn’t sure why she was whispering, she knew Echo knew she was there from the way her breath hitched when stood next to the bunk.</p><p>"Echo, what’s the matter?"</p><p>"Go away." The woman snapped, "Leave me alone."</p><p>"You don't have to be alone you know. We're all here for a reason." Niylah put a hand on Echo's shoulder, only to have it slapped away. Echo sat up, her face wet with tears and snot, the skin around her eyes red and raw.</p><p>"I am alone Niylah! He's not here and I'm alone!" She cried. Niylah pulled her into a hug.</p><p>"I know, I know.” She mumbled. “You aren’t alone, Echo." she whispered. echo sobbed, grasping Niylah arms tightly.<br/>
the woman sucked in a shaky breath and sat up after minutes had passed. "He's gone, Niylah. he's gone and I'm never going to see him again." Niylah furrowed her brows and nodded silently. </p><p>"Do you want to talk about it? About him?" Niylah prompted. She wasn’t sure if Echo would actually talk, but she wanted to give her the option.  She wanted to make sure she knew she would listen.</p><p>The short haired woman nodded, "I thought he would stay with me forever, that we would get our happy ending. But I was foolish, and weak."</p><p> </p><p>"It's okay to be weak, Echo. You need time to heal, that's not your fault." </p><p> </p><p>"I want to hate Clarke. I want to hate her so badly, but I just can’t." That was a sentiment Niylah had felt many times before. "If I was in her situation? If it was my child I thought I was saving? I would have done the same.” Echo was quiet again, she seemed to be searching for the words she needed to find. Niylah felt the need to break the silence,  </p><p>“I-“ before she had the chance to speak, Echo continued.</p><p>“Is it weird that I miss him? I miss who he was on the ring, not that,” she gestured with her hands, “shell, of who he was. I miss the man who would wake me up from nightmares and hold me until I stopped shaking, I miss having someone who would do that for me without expecting anything. I never, I never had that before him.” Echo sniffed and wiped her eyes, “Whatever, its stupid I should be fine, I always was.”</p><p>“No, its not whatever. You can’t say that, Echo. You spent years with him and now he’s gone. I know how badly that hurts. Like a piece of you is gone and you wont ever get it back? Like every time you breathe it burns because they aren’t there with you.” Echo nodded. </p><p>“So, what did you do?”  Niylah looked at her funny, so she continued, “How did you get that part of you back?”</p><p>Niylah let out a sad laugh. “I didn’t. And you wont either.” She said with a shrug. “It’s going to hurt; it probably wont ever stop. They’ll be days when you can’t even hear his name with out wanting to scream. You’ll always feel the love for him and what you had. But time will pass. And you’ll be able to appreciate the little things that remind you of him, without loathing them.”</p><p>“You know from experience.” It wasn’t a question, Niylah knew that.</p><p>“I do.” Echo was quiet. The only sound in the bunker was her shallow breaths and the creak of the bunk as she laid back down.</p><p>“I haven’t been able to sleep. I keep seeing their faces, the people I’ve killed. Its always been like that but, before I knew Bellamy, really knew him, I was surrounded by people telling me it was good, what I was doing. I was doing it for the queen. It was honorable in Azgeda. While we were on the ring, Raven and I talked about it. I had never considered it trauma or manipulation before that.” Echo looked back up at her, “Thank you, Niylah. For letting me be vulnerable, it felt good.”</p><p>“I’m glad. Would you like me to leave?” Niylah barely got the words out before Echo was pulling her down beside her.</p><p>“Stay. Please. Don’t leave me.” They held each other close, breathing quietly. Niylah could smell the mint leaves Echo had been chewing earlier, she always did in the mornings. She buried her face in the crook of Echo’s neck, wrapping her arms around Echo’s waist. They stayed like that, warm, comfortable. Echo traced patterns on her back. This place filled Niylah with anxiety but with Echo, it didn’t feel as big and mean. It just felt like a room again. The memory of the smell of blood replaced by the sound of Echo’s breathing and the gentle intimacy of the action.<br/>
“Do you want to talk about her?” Niylah pulled away, looking Echo in the eye.</p><p>“Who?”</p><p>“You said you lost somebody; do you want to talk about it?”</p><p>“Oh. Okay.” Niylah gulped, she had only told Octavia a summary of what she was going to tell Echo. She hesitated but decided it would be good to get it out. “the first time I lost somebody I was, maybe 14. Her name was Morgana. We were best friends. More than that really, but I didn’t know that then and I don’t think she did either. She had the prettiest hair, almost black and soft as a feather.” Niylah smiled as memories came back to her<br/>
“We were inseparable, she would visit me when I was working the trading post and my parents were away, and I would go fishing with her and her mother. I thought it would be like that forever. But, then her father made an attempt on the life of someone with a lot of power in my village. Her family was banished. We were going to try and take in her and her sisters but,” Niylah paused, wiping away tears, “they were supposed to be banished, not murdered. I don’t understand why they killed them.” Niylah knew she sounded frantic. She knew she was shaking like a leaf and she knew she looked a mess, but she didn’t care, she knew Echo didn’t either. Echo held her tighter and she was grateful.</p><p>“Then, when I was twenty, I met a woman in Polis. It was my first time at the capitol, and I was happy. Her name was Millie. I was there to trade for better supplies, and I did, but then I met her. We stayed together for the time I was there, and then I offered for her to come stay with me. I had moved out of my parent’s shack and lived not too far away, so I figured there was room. She stayed with me, and we had fun.” Echo rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Gross.” </p><p>“Don’t be immature, Echo.” Niylah scolded, swatting her arm, but the dark crimson colour of her cheeks and her failure to look the other woman in the eye gave her away.<br/>
“She stayed with me for maybe a year. We planned on it being like that forever. We went on a walk through the woods one day, we walked farther than we normally did, deeper into the woods. We didn’t even hear the warning horn. I wouldn’t have noticed anything was wrong at all if it weren’t for the bugs. God, Echo, there were so many bugs. All running from something. We tried to run but the fog traveled fast. So, we climbed a tree, and we were safe.” Niylah paused to calm her breathing, “Until a branch broke, and she fell into the fog. Its been years and I still see the look on her face as she fell when I sleep at night.”</p><p>“I’m so sorry, Niylah.”</p><p>“Don’t be. I’m at peace with it now. I have been for years.”</p><p>“What about Clarke?” Echo looked at her, eyes curious and sympathetic. “Did you love her?”</p><p>“No. I knew she was using me to forget and I didn’t mind. Even if I did have feelings like that for her I would have had no chance. Not next to the commander.” Niylah smiled, remembering the two women curled up with each other when she left to find Echo. </p><p>The two fell into silence again. Echo brought a hand to her cheek gently pulling her face close to hers. “Is this okay?” Niylah nodded, closing her eyes.<br/>
Before anything could happen Emori very rudely interrupted.<br/>
“Hey! I found you!” She turned to yell down the hall, “Raven! I found them!”</p><p>“Oh, great!” Raven shouted back.<br/>
Niylah hadn’t even realised Echo had fallen off the bed, completely flustered.<br/>
Raven popped into the room with a bright smile, “Were they fucking? Were you guys fucking?”</p><p>“Yes, we were fucking. Fully clothed too.” Echo dead panned, standing up and offering a hand to Niylah, pulling her up too.</p><p>“Sorry to interrupt your banging!” Octavia was there too, wonderful. “But Lexa wants us all to go on a walk.”</p><p>“Yeah, her and John wanted to. You know, if she wasn’t with Clarke, I’d probably be a little worried about how close they are already.” Emori said. Their faces were glowing, voices giddy. Everyone was happy, everything was okay.<br/>
The war is over, and we are beginning.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this is part of a series and I will write more to it I just need to actually think about stuff and that's hardddd :/</p><p>sorry if theres mistakes lol</p><p> </p><p>constructive criticism is appreciated!</p><p> </p><p>follow me on tumblr if you'd like! @im-a-ghost-bitch33</p></blockquote></div></div>
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